August 18, 2026
Tuesday, August 18
Here’s how Exodus 32 begins:
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.” 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
Notice that the people didn’t think they were guilty of idolatry. They assumed the calf statue embodied the God who had led them out of Egypt. Aaron even declared a feast to the Lord, using the covenant name Yahweh. In their minds, they were just making a version of God they could see and touch. That would make it easier to trust Him, to know He was going to take care of them. But God didn’t see it that way. He sent a plague upon the people for what they had done. Moses didn’t see it that way, either. When he came down from the mountaintop after forty days of intense communion with God and saw what his people were doing, he threw down the two stone tablets and shattered them.
I remember distinctly the first time I ever heard that story. I was around four or five, and my mom was reading me Bible stories at bedtime. When I heard that Moses had broken the tablets, I said out loud, “I bet God was really mad at Moses.” But Mom tried to explain that breaking those tablets was entirely appropriate. Just weeks before, they had sworn to uphold their end of the covenant with God. Yet now, they had broken the second commandment, which said, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image…You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God” (Ex 20:4-5).
The word “jealous” is troublesome to many of us. We associate it with a possessive teenaged boy who tries to control every aspect of his girlfriend’s life. That’s not love, it’s selfishness. God’s jealousy is completely different. It’s not based on insecurity or wounded pride; it’s based on love.
A better analogy is to think of a man who marries a woman who was once addicted to drugs. He overlooks her past and helps her build a new life. One day, he sees a text message on her phone from her former drug dealer. When he asks about it, she says, “He just got out of jail. We’re going to have a big reunion, me and all my old friends, at his new apartment.” Is that husband justified in being upset? Should he plead with his wife not to go, remind her how miserable her life was before? Of course. I couldn’t blame him if he calls this man up and says, “Stay away from my wife. I’d rather go to jail myself than let you back into her life.” Yet God loves us infinitely more than any husband ever loved his wife. And He knows what our idols do to us.
Tomorrow and for the rest of this week, we’ll see the damage idolatry causes today.
“Almighty God, I praise you for your jealous love for us. Thank you for hating the sin that separates us from you, and the idols that steal our devotion. Train me in the way I should go, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Conroe
More from Pastor Jeff at his website: jeffbergerwriting.com
